Monthly Wrap-Up: November 2023

Well November was quite the month! There were parts that I was really busy and other times when I had nothing to do! I still managed to keep up with my reading which was amazing, considering. Most of the books were good, nothing below three stars, but none of them stuck out to me as being stunning. Some of that might have been on me and my mood though. Unfortunately my mood affected my blog more than anything. I only wrote a review for three of the books I read this month. I hope to do better next month.

I managed to read 18 books this month, but three of them were novellas. Page wise those three would have made up a whole book, so really I only read 15 books. Look at me doing math! There were a couple that were longs ones as well, and some that only seemed really long! I also managed to read all of the books on my November TBR, which I wasn’t sure I was going to manage!

As always the books are in the order that I read them, and the titles are linked to the Goodreads page. I did link the few that I did write about to their reviews and put an asterisk before those.

🎧The September House was an interesting book. It wasn’t really horror, except for some gruesome violence towards the end. It was more about domestic violence and mental health.

Never a Hero was good, but I kind of wished that I had reread the first book. There were somethings that I had forgotten about this world that made this book a little confusing. I will try to do a reread of both before the third book comes out.

A Spindle Splintered was the first of the novellas and was ok. I enjoyed all of the alternate universes with fairy tales. I enjoyed some of the sleeping beauty versions that were encountered.

A Mirror Mended was a continuation of the the above novella. It was centered around the Snow White fairy tale. I liked this one a little bit more than the first one.

🎧Tales of the Greatcoats was a delightful collection of short stories set in the Greatcoat world. It was fun visiting this world and I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Red Seas Under Red Skies is the second book in the Gentleman Bastard series. I liked this one, but it seemed a little too long. It really dragged in the middle.

Where the Drowned Girls Go was a novella that won the Hugo Award this year. I liked it, but I would have probably liked it more if I was more familiar with the other books in the series.

Kaiju Preservation Society was great and one of my favorite reads of the month. I loved the world building and the characters were delightful and the story was fast paced and full of excitement.

Curious Tides was ok. I had a hard time with this story and I can’t quite decided why. I think it mostly comes down to the fact that even thought the world building was amazing, it kind of overshadowed the plot and the characters. The pacing was also very slow for most of the book.

🎧 A Study in Drowning was an interesting read. I liked the story and the characters, but there were some issues. It also suffered from pacing issues.

* The Measure was the most interesting book I read this month and one of my favorites. It really made me think about things and about the choices we make at different stages in our lives.

Light Years From Home was another one of those books that I was never sure what was really going on. Was this science fiction or more of a study on dysfunctional families or both? I really liked the characters and the story was excellent.

After She Wrote Him was weird but in a good way. The writing style was a bit hard to get used to, as you are constantly switching points of view. But once you get used to it you really get how that was the only way to tell this story. Still not sure who was the real person and who was the character being written, but isn’t that the case with a lot of stories?

🎧 * The Hexologists was such a fun book that I really enjoyed. I loved the characters and the world that they live in. I am very much looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

The Accomplice was very twisty and was one of those mysteries in which you suspect just about everyone until the final reveal. Another favorite of the month.

In a Dark, Dark Wood was a little bit disappointing. It wasn’t as scary as I would have liked and it was a tad too predictable. But still a good read.

* Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands was a lot of fun. I loved all of the new creatures we met this time around. I also like how Emily’s and Wendell’s relationship is developing. Looking forward to the next book.

Zero Days was an exciting read and one that was hard to put down. It was very fast paced and I really liked the main character, Jack. I could totally get behind her and was rooting for her at till the end.

That was a lot of books. Hopefully December’s crop of books will be as good or better than this month’s. I am looking forward to the end of the year. Lots of good books coming out in the first few months of 2024 and I can’t wait to get my hands on them. I hope you all had a great reading month and have lots of good books lined up for the end of the year. Until next time…..

Happy Reading!